John L. Pyle

John Levis Pyle was born in Coal Run, Ohio on May 5, 1860, the son of Mary (Dean) Pyle and Dr. Levis Pyle, a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War.[1] Pyle was raised in Coal Run until shortly after the war, when his family moved to Raritan, Illinois.[2] In 1882, the Levis Pyle family moved again, this time settling in Miller, Dakota Territory where he maintained a medical practice until shortly before his death in 1896.[2]

John Pyle was educated in Coal Run and Raritan.[2] He attended Westfield College in Westfield, Illinois for a year before traveling to Montana in 1879.[3] He resided in Glendale and Wickes, where he was employed as a laborer, furnaceman and foreman in the smelting works associated with the local silver mines.[3] When the smelter in Wickes was destroyed by fire, Pyle worked as a carpenter on the crew that rebuilt it, then decided to return to South Dakota to pursue studies in preparation for a career as an attorney.[3]

Pyle moved from Montana to a farm near Miller in 1882, and operated his farm and worked as a carpenter while studying law with attorney Manford E. Williams of Miller.[3] He attained admission to the bar in 1885, and practiced law in partnership with Williams.[3] A Republican, from 1886 to 1888, Pyle served as State's Attorney of Hand County.[2] In May 1888, he was elected to a term as a member of Miller's board of aldermen.[4]

In 1889, Pyle moved to Huron, South Dakota and became head of the legal department for the Dakota Farm Mortgage Company.[3] He continued to practice law in Huron until becoming state attorney general, and his caseload extended throughout the state and into North Dakota and Montana.[3] In 1895, Pyle was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.[3]

After moving to Huron, Pyle was instrumental in the relocation of Pierre University to Huron, where it was renamed as Huron College.[5] He was a major benefactor, served on the board of trustees, and all four of his children attended the school.[5] After he died, his seat on the board was filled by his wife.[5]

In 1898, Pyle was a candidate for Attorney General of South Dakota.[3] At that year's state Republican convention, which took place in August, Pyle defeated George Rice of Flandreau and James W. Fowler of Deadwood for the Republican nomination.[6] In the November general election, Pyle defeated Cornelius S. Palmer, the Fusion candidate of the Democratic Party, People's Party, and Silver Republican Party by a vote of 38,701 to 34,147.[7] He was reelected in 1900, defeating Abner E. Hitcocock, the Fusion nominee of the Democrats and People's Party by a vote of 53,900 to 40,059.[8]

Pyle served from January 1899 until his death.[2] He was the first South Dakota statewide official elected from Beadle County, and the first holder of a statewide elective position in South Dakota to die in office.[2]

In January 1902, Pyle became ill shortly after returning from a trip to Montana, and was diagnosed with typhoid fever.[9] His condition continued to worsen, and he died at his home in Huron on February 22, 1902.[10] Pyle was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Huron.[11]

In 1886, Pyle married Mary Isabella "Mamie" Shields (1866-1949) of Miller.[1] They were the parents of four children -- John Shields (1887-1948), May (1888-1974), Nellie (1889-1961), and Gladys (1890-1989).[12]

Mamie Shields Pyle was a prominent activist in the cause of women's suffrage.[13] Gladys Pyle served in the South Dakota House of Representatives, as South Dakota's Secretary of State, and briefly as one of the state's U.S. Senators.[14]

• John L. Pyle at Find a Grave